Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Joins with New York Attorney General for Enhanced Transparency in Cause Marketing Standards

Breast Cancer Charity Applauds New Gold Standard for Consumers

DALLAS – October 18, 2012 - Susan G. Komen for the Cure® leaders today joined with New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to implement new charitable cause marketing standards that will give consumers better information and a clearer understanding of how their donations are supporting breast cancer research and community breast cancer programs.

“We were very pleased to work in partnership with the attorney general’s office for the past year, and we applaud Attorney General Schneiderman’s leadership in developing best practices to guide cause marketing programs across all breast cancer organizations,” said Dorothy Jones, vice president of marketing for Komen.

“As leaders of the breast cancer movement, we have always strived to ensure that consumers have the best and most detailed information about how their purchases or participation translate into donations for Komen’s work. Our great hope is that these practices will be adopted by all breast cancer organizations and their partners nationwide,” Jones said.

Cause marketing programs involve fund-raising partnerships between charities and businesses that generate donations based on the purchase of a product or participation in a business partner’s cause marketing program. Susan G. Komen partners annually with about 200 companies that help raise funds for Komen’s research programs, large-scale community health programs, advocacy and global work.

“These partners have helped us make significant progress against breast cancer,” Jones said, “generating a large portion of the funds that have allowed Komen to invest more than $740 million in research and more than $1.3 billion in community health programs over our 30 years.”

Komen has long required its business partners to list details of their programs on labels at the point of sale or in descriptions of their programs, which can be found at www.komen.org.

“We have always believed in providing clear and concise information for consumers who support breast cancer programs,” Jones said.

To that end, Komen began working with Schneiderman’s office in 2011 to develop the best practices announced today.

For more detail on the best practices, visit the New York Attorney General’s website.